Shaun

The Biblical Case for the Pope : The most famous passage supporting the papacy is Matthew 16:16-19 but I think most people do not realize how much it says. Let's start with reviewing the text. "Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Here we have Jesus renaming Simon to Rock (Petros in Greek) and telling him that he will build his church on him that the gates of hell will not overcome. But then Jesus begins a ceremony. I call it a ceremony because it appears that Jesus is following a ceremonial formula for ordaining the Vicar (representative) of a King. Jesus, who regularly quoted from Isaiah (over 20 times), closely follows the formula in Isaiah 22:20-22. Consider: “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah… I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." The parallels are striking. A key is given. Peter/Eliakim is then given the power to bind/shut or loose/open. The similarity of the phrasing and the tendency of Christ to quote from the prophet Isaiah make it seem HIGHLY unlikely that this is coincidental. Jesus is nearly quoting the Prophet Isaiah on purpose. What is he getting at? To understand, let’s look at who Eliakim was. He was the Vicar of King Hezekiah. And we see his role in 2 Kings 18:18. In that passage, the Assyrian Commander calls for King Hezekiah. But instead of the King going out, Eliakim is sent to speak on his behalf. Eliakim was the vicar, the representative and the spokesperson for King Hezekiah. With that in mind, let's get back to the ceremony that Jesus performed on St Peter in Matt 16:16-19. Jesus (a king) was performing a ceremony of a Vicar and the Vicar's role (as seen in 2 Kings) is to speak on behalf of the King. He is making Peter his Vicar. There are other proofs in the bible. Jesus promised that Peter would be the one to strengthen the brothers (Luke 22:31-32). In John 21:10-14 Peter hauled in the fish (a symbol for the faithful) by himself when all the disciples together couldn't do it (v6) and the text says the net did not tear (the greek for tear is schism). And throughout the book of Acts you see Peter acting as Pope. In Acts 5, it is Peter (not the other apostles) who sits in judgement of Ananias and Sapphira. In Acts 15, at the first council only Peter speaks during the deliberations and when James wraps up the discussion he quotes one person: Peter. We see St Paul say that when completed his period of contemplation, he went to Peter first (Galatians 1:18). And the list of the apostles changes in order quite a bit throughout the New Testament but it always starts with St. Peter (and ends with Judas) - the others change in order. In many cases, it just says “Peter and the others.” Peter is clearly given a unique role of leadership, vicarship of Christ, and spokesman for the Christian movement. But did he pass it on? Is it possible that Peter was indeed given a special role but that ended with Peter? The answer to this is no. The offices off the apostles were passed on. We know this both from the bible and from history. Consider Acts 1:12-26. In that passage, Judas (one of the twelve apostles) has died an ignominious death and Peter (acting as the leader of the Apostles) says that “it is necessary to choose” someone to take his office (v 20-21). The word for office here is “episkopēn” which is the Greek word for bishopfrik. And then Matthias is chosen to replace Judas “in this ministry and apostleship” (v25) and that he “was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (v26) Here we have an apostle dying and a successor being chosen. How in the world is this not apostolic succession? And, relevant to the topic of Peter, it explicitly states that Matthias would take the office (bishopfrik) of Judas. This is a handing down of an ecclesial office. And lest people think this is a one off situation with Judas, there is another very interesting account from St Clement of Rome writing in 90AD. He writes, “Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry” (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3) In short, the papacy is clearly a biblical office instituted by Christ.

Genghis Khan isn't King, Mr. Netanyahu. Christ is King.

Rogan: "Your party was about to win, but then Trump said he was going to turn Canada into the 51st state." Poilievre: "I wish he'd knock that shit off so we can talk about... tariffs... it's in America's interest to [have] a tariff-free deal."

A person who services a wind turbine or a “Wind Technician,” makes 20K a month. Once a month, he climbs to the top of each turbine and takes care of the sensors on top. It takes a half an hour on a small elevator to get to the top. Each technician wears harnesses for protection. The money involved in these turbines is insane.

It's tiresome to have to keep saying that he shames his office, but he shames his office.

That’s a beautiful engine…

Hear me out: we don't retire the A-10, and instead triple production.

Postmaster General David Steiner is asking Congress to allow him to borrow more money to cover costs as well as to increase the price of a U.S. first class stamp from 78 cents to 95 cents.

NEW: Hillsborough County, Florida, police successfully use a grappler device to stop a driver who tried fleeing during a traffic stop. Suspect: "You gonna grab a gun though?" Officer: "Oh, yeah." Danny Wilson III was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and other charges.

You guessed it. Republicans objected a fifth time to paying TSA workers.

none of this is true

Elon Musk is an extremely skilled propagandist.

If those who wanted to limit voting to only the “right people” in the 1960s had succeeded, I would not be in the Senate today.